Night Revelations, page 9
part #1 of Night Wolves Series
Her stomach growled. At first, the nervous anticipation of finding her parents staved her hunger. But that didn’t last forever. She peeked side-long at Wyatt and found him grinning. Of course, he’d heard her body’s desperate yowl.
Flicking his safety lights on and off, he signaled Damon, who would know they aimed to pull over soon. He’d assume for gas, unless he was chomping at the bit for some sustenance as well. He seemed the type who could go days without eating and never say a word.
“Just something quick,” Charlotte groaned. “And I kind of need to pee.”
Wyatt tossed her an empty Gatorade bottle, eliciting her groan.
“Not funny,” she protested, but laughed.
His eyes narrowed in concentration, studying the road signs. “Looks like…we can fill up in three miles.”
“Perfect. I just need a honey bun and some beef jerky, and I’m good to go.”
His blue eyes slid over her. “We’re going to get you something more substantial than that.”
“I’m not going to waste away on a car trip,” She replied rolling her eyes. “Besides, shouldn’t you be stocking up on snack foods? You’ve got nothing in here. How exactly do you plan on passing your trial with just a miserable little tent and whatever else is in that bag?”
His lips curled, and his shoulders lifted in a casual shrug. “That’s all I’m allowed. Or rather, I’m allowed a single bag packed as I see fit. Food isn’t a concern. We’re predators, remember?”
Somehow, she’d ignored the obvious. A month in the wild? He’d be eating bunnies. She had wiped that sort of memory from her mind.
Until Damon had found her, she would spend full moons munching on woodland creatures like they were potato chips. Then it turned out that wasn’t necessary, not in the slightest. Her eyes widened. “The next moon is in a week.”
“Of course. That’s partially why the trial is a month. To make sure that regardless of when the trial is done, the participant endures at least a single solo moon.”
“Yeah, I think I knew that, but I never thought about it. Are you sure about this?” Her skin crawled. Wyatt was strong, but she could only go by what she’d felt herself. The further from the pack they got, the more restless her wolf became. She couldn’t even fathom Wyatt not feeling the same.
Reaching over, he cupped her cheek and slid his thumb along her jaw. “Please don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. I just hate that we’re parting now, of all times.”
She wasn’t sure if he meant because of her tentative upcoming family reunion or the fact that they’d yet to get much further than first base.
The truck slowed, and looking up she noticed Damon curving around an exit.
“If it’s an option, we’re going to get you a nice burger,” Wyatt announced.
Charlotte’s stomach rumbled its response, and she rolled her eyes. “Alright.”
* * * *
Two burgers and a salad later—Charlotte had been more ravenous than usual—they were back on the road. At some point, the lull of mostly smooth blacktop had put her to sleep, and now she startled from a dream she didn't realize she was having. Road naps were hardly fulfilling in any form.
“I think we’re coming across point one,” Wyatt said, a small map spread across the steering wheel. He folded the crinkly paper haphazardly and passed it to her.
She took the map and sat up straight. While her fingers worked idly to smooth the creases, her eyes darted across the landscape. No longer on the highway, scattered trees flanked their path. After a few minutes, Damon pulled to the side of the road.
As soon as the truck had come to a complete stop, Charlotte leapt from her seat. She took a deep breath, inhaling the strange scent of unfamiliar trees and brush. The sun was still high, and she could see forever in each direction.
“Is this it?” she asked.
Damon shrugged off his jacket and laid it across his seat. “This is one area where there was a supposed wolf sighting. I’m not sure we’ll find anything, but it won’t hurt to look around.”
Mind focused, she darted off in a direction. Wyatt snatched her by the elbow.
“Whoah,” he said. “There’s a right way and a wrong way to initiate a search. If you wander off and get lost, that’s definitely the wrong way.”
She looked up at him, emotions battling. He was right, she knew, but her legs wanted to explore. The possibility that her parents were here—however slim that chance was—fueled her. Adrenaline coursed through her and her wolf paced, impatient. It nudged. Usually, she communicated with her wolf through vague intuition, but this time it was clear.
Let me free. Let me find.
No longer content with waiting on the sidelines, her wolf prowled and pressed, feeling like a vibration under her skin.
Her feral urges must have been clear because when she blinked free of the trance she didn’t recall entering, both Damon and Wyatt held her arms. The two men stared down at her, eyes glowing. Somehow, she knew hers glowed too, and it wasn’t a good sign.
“I can’t…” she whispered.
“Shh.” Wyatt leaned down, pressing his forehead against hers. “Let us take care of it.”
She took several deep breaths, and tried to do the opposite of what she’d learned in meditation. Instead of welcoming her wolf forward, she tried to coax it to rest. A familiar warmth coated her, and she recognized Damon’s wolf was pressing against her like a thin veil where he held her arms. A similar sensation coated the rest of her, which she realized was Wyatt. Their wolves hadn’t interacted before. Even during their lessons, they stayed apart.
Trapped between the two men and their wolves, her anxiety ebbed away.
Unfortunately, it was replaced by the determined throb of sexual need.
Damon released her first, a deep frown flashing over his face before he replaced it with his usual neutral mask. Wyatt let go then, but stayed close. He tucked a stray dark hair behind her ear.
“It’s going to be okay,” he whispered. “You’re grounded, and you aren’t alone.”
She wrapped her arms around him, absorbing all of the comfort he offered. Still, a small hollow ache persisted, and she knew it was missing Damon. Whether because he was pack or because of something else, she didn’t know. Either way, she pushed it down and concentrated on Wyatt.
“I guess I shouldn’t go off on my own,” she mumbled.
“No,” he replied. “I’ll stay with you.”
“We can meet up in… let’s say an hour. It shouldn’t take longer than that to discern whether any lupine has been in the area recently,” Damon said. He’d already walked more than a few paces away and had his back to them.
Wyatt glanced down to Charlotte and she nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”
TEN
Walking within eyesight of Wyatt of all times, Charlotte scanned the woods. So far there was nothing out of the usual. Scents of humans and animals, but nothing else. All lupine had heightened senses, but she’d never trained hers. Unless she paid attention, really focused on a purpose, her sense of smell was pretty much that of a human. Every breath in, she had to filter her own scent out, as well as Wyatt’s. She didn’t have to ask to know that it came much easier for anyone else.
“Am I even capable of this?” she grumbled. “I have no idea what I’m doing except sniffing the air.”
“That should be enough,” he replied.
“But what if they’re hiding? Couldn’t they mask their scent?”
He shook his head. “Even if they could, I know how to track by other means.”
“Then you aren’t sensing or seeing anything either.”
He glanced over at her and paused. “No.”
She went to him and he automatically pulled her into a hug. His heart drummed a steady, focused beat she could concentrate on. The stress that had been building dissipated some.
“We have other places to check,” he reminded her, smoothing her hair and placing a kiss on the top of her head. “Let’s head back to the meetup. Maybe Damon’s found something. If not, we’ll move on.”
She reluctantly pulled away, so they could walk. Her eyes scanned the ground, wondering what Wyatt saw when he looked at the twigs and dirt. Tracking seemed like magic to her. Something that only existed in movies and books, the ability to notice a snapped branch and know exactly where your prey was heading. Or maybe that wasn’t how it worked at all.
Any other time, she’d ask. Curiosity would get the best of her and she’d insist on learning something or at least trying to comprehend. For now, though, she kept quiet. Her ears strained, seeking out anything out of the ordinary.
They took a different path heading back, something she noticed when they came across a worn path. She looked down the hiking trail in each direction, but saw nothing. Even humans hadn’t used it in a while.
“How are you finding our way back?” she asked searching their surroundings.
He arched a brow at her, then smiled. “Oh. I can just tell. Directions come naturally to me.”
“Sounds handy.”
“It is. I guess I do it without thinking, it’s like I can look around and plot the layout around me…” Shrugging, he scratched his head. “It’s hard to explain.”
“No worries. I trust you.”
They continued on, and after what felt like forever she saw his truck in the distance. Damon wasn’t back yet, so she sat on the front bumper and drank some water while Wyatt poured over the map. Eventually, Damon appeared.
“Find anything?” he called.
“Nothing,” she replied.
He frowned and nodded. “Me either. Map?”
Wyatt held it up, and Damon went to him. Sliding his fingertip across the paper, he mumbled to himself for a moment. Charlotte joined them, even though she had no idea where they were, much less where they were headed. Damon tapped a green blotch.
“We’ll go there,” he said.
Wyatt tapped a different area. “This is further from town. If they’re hiding out, no pack, it makes sense.”
“No pack means they’d be closer to town. Even if they spend nights away. But regardless, if I was alone, I’d go there,” Damon said.
Charlotte watched the two males stare at each other as if communicating psychically. After a few seconds, Wyatt lifted his chin and folded the map.
“Hard to do a proper search with just us three,” he commented. “I trust your instincts.”
His tone wasn’t as genuine as his words, but Damon didn’t seem to notice or care. Nodding, he headed back to his bike. “I’ll lead the way.”
Charlotte climbed into the truck eager to continue the search. Wyatt got in and squeezed her knee as he pulled back onto the road.
“We’re going to find them,” he promised.
* * * *
They came to their second point after less than an hour of driving. After a quick group hug to once again calm Charlotte’s wolf, they split into their two teams and began their search. The first twenty minutes of hiking and sniffing the air revealed nothing, but after hopping a dry creek, she smelled something strange yet familiar.
She looked up the creek and took a few steps. “Wyatt,” she called. “Here.”
He rushed over and immediately took a deep breath. His mouth grew tight and his eyes widened. “Faint, but yes.”
Chills ran over her and she took a careful step in the direction of the scent. Her wolf pressed her forward, but she refrained from running. Wyatt took her hand and led her through the darkening trees. She tried to avoid noticing his glowing eyes, worried that her wolf would be drawn to them.
The last thing she needed right now was to lose control. The setting sun would make it easier for her wolf to escape. She tuned out her emotions and urges, thinking only of the scent in the air. The lupine trail became stronger and stronger, until they came to a small abandoned firepit.
Damon came bounding forward, appearing to have been running full speed towards them.
He straightened and pushed his dark hair back. “I wondered if you’d find this. The area is saturated with layers of the scent.”
Charlotte’s heart leapt. “Do you think it’s them?”
Pain shadowed his face and he glanced at Wyatt for a moment before walking forward. Wyatt’s hands rested on her shoulders and she braced herself for the bad news their actions foreshadowed.
“There is only one scent here,” Damon said softly. He took her hands. “I searched the edges of its trail but its alone. Unless I’m mistaken, female.”
The news made Charlotte take a step back, and Wyatt wrapped his arms around her. Inhaling deep, she welcomed his comforting scent as well as Damon’s. There would be time for mourning later, though where that wisdom came from escaped her.
She wanted to cry, could feel the tears rising up, but she wouldn’t. Her wolf came forward in her mind, but only sat and watched. She knew then that her wolf was lending her strength to continue.
“Has she been here recently?” she asked.
Damon turned and gestured to the burnt wood. “A week or so.”
“That’s strange,” Wyatt commented.
“How so?” Charlotte asked.
“If she’s living here, the scent would be stronger. But if she’s only here for the moon, the timing is off,” Damon explained. “It could mean she makes camp in a few spots, which is likely.”
“She wouldn’t need to, though. There’s not much reason to move around. This area can support her,” Wyatt reasoned.
Damon shrugged. Something had crossed his mind, Charlotte suspected, but he didn't say anything. He looked at the sky and sighed. “We shouldn't search at night.”
Wyatt scoffed, but Damon fixed a severe look at him.
Charlotte wanted to argue, but only the wild side of her. The rational side of her had noticed that Damon seemed on edge. His stance was stiff. He kept looking around as if expecting something to happen. His voice even seemed deeper than usual.
“Should we head back to our things?” she asked.
Damon squinted in the direction of their vehicles, or at least in the direction she assumed led to the truck and bike—she couldn’t actually tell. “We should,” he agreed. “You two go ahead. I’m going to take another quick pass, make sure I didn’t miss anything.”
* * * *
Charlotte inched her way to the tent opening, trying not to make a sound. Wyatt’s soft breathing remained steady, deep in sleep. As slow as she could manage, she unzipped the flap and crawled out. She slipped her shoes on, not bothering to tie the laces.
The small fire they’d made was gone, now just a pile of ashes and scattered wood. Wyatt and Charlotte had headed to bed early, and Damon had stayed to watch the fire a bit longer. He was no longer around.
Rubbing her arms to wake her muscles, Charlotte picked a direction and headed off. She couldn’t sleep when they were so close to their goal. Every cell of her body was restless, and her brain fumbled with every possibility for Damon’s strange mood.
She ran her hand across the cold tree bark as she walked, a trick Wyatt had taught her earlier. If she left her scent, it would be easier to find her way back. The last thing she needed was to get lost at night. And only I could get lost at night.
The rustle of footsteps came from behind her and she turned to find Damon catching up to her. She stopped and waited for him.
“You shouldn’t be out,” he said in a deep voice.
“Because it’s not safe?” she asked. He didn’t reply immediately, and she wondered if her random question hit closer to home than he’d expected. “I couldn’t sleep.”
His feet shuffled, and she caught the twitch of his hands before he crossed his arms. She could guess that he meant to hold her, but decided against it. For the pack, it wouldn’t be a romantic gesture, but she suspected that it would take a while before they acted like typical pack mates around each other.
“I’ve scouted the area. We should be fine tonight,” he said. “I was surprised when you retired early. I should have guessed you’d be back up and about.”
“I tried. I kept waking.”
“I'm amazed Wyatt didn't notice, though,” Damon commented, looking back over his shoulder. “Heavy sleeper.”
“Or I'm that sneaky.”
“Maybe. But it was obvious you'd have a rough time staying down for the night.”
“He doesn't need to babysit me,” Charlotte said rolling her eyes.
“I just meant... it's not the best time for you to be alone.” Damon dropped his arms and stepped closer. “I can't imagine what you're going through right now, what thoughts are racing through your mind. Part of me wonders if you're in shock.”
She closed her eyes and nodded, knowing what he meant. “My wolf is blocking my pain somehow. She knows I can't stop now. Even if I can feel the sorrow, it's watered down. I'll never get to meet my dad.”
“It's always possible he's just not here right now,” Damon said gently.
“No. For a moment I thought that. But now, I can feel it. I know he's gone.”
“Are you sure?”
“There was a time when I thought that maybe I had been abandoned because my parents split up. My dad and mom could've produced me without meaning to, without loving each other. But that's a human thing. Thinking like who I am now, lupine, I realize how far-fetched that is.”
“Children born of... unintentional mating is rare, but you're right. Usually, if two wolves got far along enough to mate, they would want to stay together. I agree that it's highly unlikely that they separated because of you, or because they weren't in love.”
“I'm honestly tired of thinking of all the worst possibilities,” Charlotte said. “Especially now. I have to believe that they were in love, and somehow, they lost me. Because if I believe that, all of this will be worth it.”
Damon placed a hand on her shoulder. “Your mom is going to love you, and be proud of your strength.”
She placed her hand over his. The familiar warmth it exuded made her smile. “Thanks.” She stared into his eyes, looking deep and finding them softer than usual. “You never told me about your parents.”
